Shaked pushes to jail minors over age 12 involved in terror attacks

Move comes after 13-year-old took part in stabbing

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Updated: OCTOBER 19, 2015 04:30
Ayelet Shaked, nouvelle ministre de la Justice (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Ayelet Shaked, nouvelle ministre de la Justice
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is pushing to amend the country’s criminal law to allow minors over the age of 12 to be jailed if they are involved in a terror attack.
The issue has taken on special importance because under the current law, Ahmed Manasra, 13, involved in the recent stabbing attack of a 13-year-old Jewish Israeli, cannot be sent to jail even if he is convicted of the multiple counts of attempted murder with which the state prosecution is expected to charge him.
Under current law, minors can only be charged at age 12 and can only be sent to prison at age 14, which could lead to the potential embarrassing and dangerous situation of Manasra escaping jail time for one of the most serious crimes.
Shaked would like to change the law quickly enough so that Manasra can be sent to jail.
Short of that, the prosecution could dry to extend the trial against him until January when he turns 14, or may send him to a closed rehabilitation facility until he is 20.
Shaked’s spokesman was not sure that the amendment would happen fast enough to apply to Manasra, but hoped that changing the law would solve the issue for future cases.
A Justice Ministry spokeswoman said a request had been received from Shaked to move forward on the issue, but that they were still in the early stages of exploring the legal implications of such a change.
Human rights groups already criticize Israel on a variety of fronts for treating minors harshly when security offenses come into play.